On the evening of May 26, 2005, with the polls suggesting that the
European Constitution was veering toward defeat, Jacques Chirac made
a final exhortation to the French public. He argued that the French
were voting not on a sectarian political issue but on an issue that
would determine the future of themselves, their children, France,
and Europe. Chirac characterized the choice before French citizens
as “neither right nor left.” His use of a phrase more commonly
associated with Vichy displayed an uncharacteristic historical
amnesia and suggests that Chirac and his party were grabbing at
straws in those final days.